[A prospective cohort study on the comparison of risk of occupational dust exposure and smoking to death].

Objective: To compare the effects of dust exposure and smoking on mortality.

Methods: Based on the Guangzhou Occupational Health Surveillance Record System established in 1989-1992, 80 987 factory workers, aged > or = 30, occupationally exposed to dust and non-exposure to dust, were included in a prospective cohort study.

Results: (1) The mean age of the cohort was 43.

Smoking, respiratory disease and health service utilisation: the paradox.

We compared need for and utilisation of health services among young, healthy smokers who did not want to quit "the non-motivated", and "motivated smokers", relative to never-smokers. This cross-sectional study included 9915 Hong Kong police officers. We assessed smoking status, differentiating non-motivated from motivated smokers.

Subjective health and fibrinogen in a healthy Chinese cohort.

Objectives: This study explores standard cardiovascular (CVD) risk factors in a healthy population sample, with low CVD prevalence and presumed higher social connectedness as potential mechanisms linking subjective health (SH) and physical health.

Method: A population-based, telephone-sampled, cross-sectional study recruited a healthy subset of 2280 Chinese adults who subsequently underwent a free medical examination. Serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDL), high-density lipoproteins (HDL), triglycerides, fibrinogen, fasting glucose, 2-hour post-load glucose, blood pressure and adiposity were compared between respondents reporting good SH and those reporting poor SH over the past 3 months, on a 4-point, single-item measure.

Perceived peer smoking prevalence and its association with smoking behaviours and intentions in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents.

Background: Among the many personal, social and environmental risk factors of adolescence smoking, normative beliefs stand out for their potential to be modified with factual information on smoking prevalence.

Aims: To study the perceived peer smoking prevalence and its association with smoking behaviours in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents.

Design And Setting: Cross-sectional territorial-wide school-based survey conducted in 64 randomly selected secondary schools in Hong Kong.

Obesity and depressive symptoms in Chinese elderly.

Objectives: The main objective was to examine the association between obesity and depressive symptoms among Chinese elderly in Hong Kong.

Methods: Cross-sectional data on depressive symptoms and body mass index from 56 167 clients aged 65 or over who enrolled as members of Elderly Health Centres from July 1998 to December 2000 were analysed using multiple logistic regression with adjustment of potential confounders.

Results: Among 18 750 men and 37 417 women, the prevalence [95% confidence interval (CI)] of depressive symptoms (based on the Geriatric Depression Scale) was 4.

Preventing exposure to second-hand smoke.

Objective: To report the effectiveness of a health education intervention provided by nurses to prevent second-hand smoke exposure in sick children in Hong Kong.

Data Sources: A clinical trial, international and national government reports, and research studies.

Conclusion: Exposure to second-hand smoke is associated with significant morbidity and mortality.

[A prospective cohort study on the effect of occupational dust exposure and smoking on mortality].

Objective: To study the effect of dust exposure and smoking on mortality.

Methods: Based on the Guangzhou Occupational Health Surveillance Record System established in 1989-1992, 61,648 factory workers, aged > or = 30, occupationally exposed to dust and non-exposure to dust or any other hazardous substances(controls), were included in a prospective cohort study.

Results: (1) 28 were lost to follow-up.

[An analysis of the main causes of death in different industrial systems in Guangzhou].

Objective: To study the main causes of death in workers from different industries in Guangzhou.

Methods: The industrial systems in Guangzhou were classified into six categories according to the Chinese Public Health Inspection Statistical Report. Baseline data on 79,547 workers, age > or = 35, were retrieved from individual health records under the Guangzhou Occupational Health Surveillance Record System established in 1989-1992.

Triglyceride and coronary heart disease mortality in a 24-year follow-up study in Xi'an, China.

Purpose: To study whether serum triglyceride (TG) was associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality.

Methods: A cohort analytic study carried out in a machinery factory in Xi'an, China on 1696 subjects aged 35 years or above (1124 men and 572 women) examined in 1976 and followed up till 2000.

Results: At baseline, the mean serum total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) was 4.

Sexual media use by young adults in Hong Kong: prevalence and associated factors.

The prevalence of sexual media use, and factors associated with it, among Chinese young adults were studied in Hong Kong. Questions on use of sexual media were asked as part of a youth sexuality study conducted by the Family Planning Association in 1996. In a population-based cross-sectional study, 517 men and 447 women aged 18-27 years completed an anonymous structured self-administered questionnaire.

Smoking and perceived health in Hong Kong Chinese.

This population-based cross-sectional study examined the associations between smoking and perceived health in Hong Kong. 6117 healthy Chinese (3053 men, 3064 women), aged 25-74 years, were randomly selected for telephone interviews in Hong Kong in 1994-96. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of having poor or very poor perceived health (against good or very good) were calculated.

Blood pressure indices and cardiovascular disease in the Asia Pacific region: a pooled analysis.

This article aims to compare the importance of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and pulse pressure (PP) as risk factors for stroke and ischemic heart disease and to assess whether the patterns are consistent by age and gender. Cox proportional-hazards regression, adjusted for cholesterol and smoking, was used to assess the associations of the 4 BP indices with stroke and ischemic heart disease by age and gender. The relative importance of individual indices was assessed with a hazard ratios for a 1-SD change in BP and by likelihood-ratio chi2 tests.

Voluntary HIV antibody testing amongst youth in Hong Kong.

We performed a study to estimate the prevalence of and factors associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody-testing behaviour among youth in Hong Kong. It was a population-based cross-sectional study. Questions on HIV testing were asked as part of a youth sexuality study conducted in July to December 1996 among young adults in Hong Kong.

Prevalence and correlates of alcohol use: a population-based study in Hong Kong.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and pattern of alcohol use and to analyse the socio-demographic and biological correlates of alcohol drinking in Hong Kong Chinese.

Design: A population-based cross-sectional study conducted from December 1994 to October 1996.

Setting And Participants: 2900 randomly selected subjects age 25-74 years who participated in the Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study in Hong Kong.

Smoking, alcohol drinking and non-fatal coronary heart disease in Hong Kong Chinese.

Purpose: To examine whether smoking, alcohol drinking and other risk factors were associated with non-fatal coronary heart disease (CHD) in Hong Kong Chinese.

Methods: A case control study was carried out with 598 CHD hospital cases (431 men, 167 women) and 1100 community controls (663 men, 437 women). Standardized questionnaires were used and blood lipids were measured using standard methods.

Smoking, occupational exposure and mortality in workers in Guangzhou, China.

Purpose: To compare the mortality risk of smoking and overall occupational exposure in Guangzhou, China.

Methods: Baseline data on smoking and occupational exposure of 82159 workers aged 30+ were retrieved from medical records established in 1988-92. Vital status and causes of death were followed through 1998.

Smoking, quitting, and mortality in a Chinese cohort of retired men.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between smoking, quitting, and mortality in older Chinese men.

Design And Methods: A cohort analytic study was carried out in Xi'an, China. A total of 1268 retired male military cadres aged 60 or older were examined in 1987 and followed for 12 years.

Is the timing of exposure to infection a major determinant of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in Hong Kong?

The hypothesis that protection of infants from exposure to infectious agents with delayed first exposure to one or more specific agents together contribute to the aetiology of childhood leukaemia, especially common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (cALL), has substantial indirect support from descriptive epidemiology and case-control studies in developed Western countries. A case-control study of childhood leukaemia diagnosed at ages 2-14 years has now been conducted in Hong Kong. Cases (n=98) formed a consecutive series of Chinese children diagnosed with acute leukaemia; controls (n=228) were identified following a survey using random digit dialling and required to attend for medical examination by a paediatrician.

Breast-feeding and its relation to smoking and mode of delivery.

Objective: To examine the effects of cesarean and forceps or vacuum delivery and parental smoking habits on the initiation and duration of breast-feeding.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, population-based birth cohort study in 1997. Data were collected on breast-feeding history, household smoking habits, method of delivery, and other demographic, obstetric, behavioral, and potential confounding variables via a standardized self-administered questionnaire.

Lymphocyte DNA damage in elevator manufacturing workers in Guangzhou, China.

Aims: To study the effect of smoking, passive smoking, alcohol drinking, and occupational exposure to low level of benzene on DNA strand breaks in elevator manufacturing workers in Guangzhou, China.

Methods: Three hundred and fifty-nine workers (252 men and 107 women) of a modern elevator manufacturing factory, 205 were from production departments and 154 from managerial department. Information on the workers' health conditions, smoking, passive smoking, alcohol consumption and occupational exposure history was collected by personal interview.